Part 52 (1/2)
SEC. 5. The Governor shall reside at the seat of government of this State, and he shall, from time to time, give the General a.s.sembly information of the affairs of the State, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall deem expedient.
SEC. 6. The Governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offences (except in case of impeachment), upon such conditions as lie may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. He shall biennially communicate to the General a.s.sembly each case of reprieve, commutation or pardon granted, stating the name of each convict, the crime for which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, the date of commutation, pardon or reprieve, and the reasons therefor.
SEC. 7. The officers of the Executive Department and of the public inst.i.tutions of the State shall, at least five days previous to each regular session of the General a.s.sembly, severally report to the Governor, who shall transmit such reports, with his message, to the General a.s.sembly; and the Governor may, at any time, require information in writing from the officers in the Executive Department upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
SEC. 8. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief of the militia of the State, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.
SEC. 9. The Governor shall have power, on extraordinary occasions, by and with the advice of the Council of State, to convene the General a.s.sembly ? ? into? ? extra session by his proclamation, stating therein the purpose or purposes for which they are thus convened.
SEC. 10. The Governor shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of a majority of the Senators elect, appoint all officers, whose offices are established by this Const.i.tution, and whose appointments are not otherwise provided for.
SEC. 11. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless the Senate be equally divided. He shall, whilst acting as President of the Senate, receive for his services the same pay which shall, for the same period, be allowed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and he shall receive no other compensation except when he is acting as Governor.
SEC. 12. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his failure to qualify, his absence from the State, his inability to discharge the duties of his office, or, in case the office of Governor shall in anywise become vacant, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant- Governor until the disabilities shall cease, or a new Governor shall be elected and qualified. In every case in which the Lieutvaant-Governor shall be unable to preside over the Senate, the Senators shall elect one of their own number President of their body, and the powers, duties and emoluments of the office of Governor shall devolve upon him whenever the Lieutenant- Governor shall, for any reason, be prevented from discharging the duties of such office as above provided, and he shall continue as acting Governor until the disabilities are removed, or a new Governor or Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected and qualified. Whenever, during the recess of the General a.s.sembly, it shall become necessary for the President of the Senate to administer the government, the Secretary of State shall convene the Senate, that they may elect such President.
SEC. 13. The respective duties of the Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Attorney General shall be prescribed by law. If the office of any of the officers shall be vacated by death, resignation or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the Governor to appoint another until the disability be removed or his successor be elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled by election at the first general election that occurs more than thirty days after the vacancy has taken place, and the person chosen shall hold the office for the remainder of the unexpired term fixed in the first section of this Article.
SEC. 14. The Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction shall const.i.tute, ex officio, the Council of State, who shall advise the Governor in the execution of his office, and three of whom shall const.i.tute a quorum; their advice and proceedings in this capacity shall be entered in a journal to be kept for this purpose exclusively, and signed by the members present, from any part of which any member may enter his dissent; and such journal shall be placed before the General a.s.sembly when called for by either House.
The Attorney-General shall be, ex officio, the legal adviser of the Executive Department.
SEC. 15. The officers mentioned in this Article shall, at stated periods, receive for their services a compensation to be established by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the time for which they shall have been elected, and the said officers shall receive no other emolument or allowance.
SEC. 16. There shall be a seal of the State, which shall be kept by the Governor, and used by him, as occasion may require, and shall be called ”the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina.”
All grants and commissions shall be entered in the name and by the authority of the State of North Carolina, sealed with the ”Great Seal of the State,” signed by the Governor and countersigned by the Secretary of State.
SEC. 17. The General a.s.sembly shall establish a Department of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics, under such regulations as may best promote the agricultural interests of the State, and shall enact laws for the adequate protection and encouragement of sheep husbandry.
ARTICLE IV. JUDICIAL. DEPARTMENT.
SECTION 1. The distinctions between actions at law and suits in equity, and the forms of all such actions and suits, shall be abolished; and there shall be in this State but one form of action for the enforcement or protection of private rights or the redress of private wrongs, which shall be denominated a civil action; and every action prosecuted by the people of the State as a party, against a person charged with a public offence, for the punishment of the same, shall be termed a criminal action. Feigned issues shall also be abolished, and the fact at issue tried by order of Court before a jury.
SEC. 2. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Court for the trial of Impeachments, a Supreme Court, Superior Courts, Courts of Justices of the Peace, and such other courts inferior to the Supreme Court at may be established by law.
SEC. 3. The Court for the trial of impeachments shall be the Senate. A majority of the members shall be necessary to a quorum, and the judgment shall not extend beyond removal from and disqualification to hold office in this State; but the party shall be liable to indictment and punishment according to law.
SEC. 4. The House of Representatives solely shall have the power of impeaching. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present. When the Governor is impeached, the Chief-Justice shall preside.
SEC 5. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. No conviction of treason or attainder shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture.
SEC. 6. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief-Justice and two a.s.sociate Justices.
SEC. 7. The terms of the Supreme Court shall be held in the city of Raleigh, as now, until otherwise provided by the General a.s.sembly.
SEC. 8. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction to review, upon appeal, any decision of the courts below, upon any matter of law or legal inference. And the jurisdiction of said Court over ”issues of fact” and ”questions of fact” shall be the same exercised by it before the adoption of the Const.i.tution of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, and the Court shall have the power to issue any remedial writs necessary to give it a general supervision and control over the proceedings of the inferior courts.
SEC. 9. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to hear claims against the State, but its decisions shall be merely recommendatory; no process in the nature of execution shall issue thereon; they shall be reported to the next session of the General a.s.sembly for its action.
SEC. 10. The State shall be divided into nine judicial districts, for each of which a Judge shall be chosen; and there shall be held a Superior Court in each county at least twice in each year, to continue for such time in each county as may be prescribed by law. But the General a.s.sembly may reduce or increase the number of districts.
SEC. 11. Every Judge of the Superior Court shall reside in the district for which he is elected. The Judges shall preside in the Courts of the different districts successively, but no Judge shall hold the Courts in the same district oftener than once in four years; but in the case of the protracted illness of the Judge a.s.signed to preside in any district, or of any other unavoidable accident to him by reason of which he shall be unable to preside, the Governor may require any Judge to hold one or more specified terms in said districts, in lieu of the Judge a.s.signed to hold the Courts of the said districts.